Hey jars, thanks for the kind words, it' s nice to know my views on the racing genre are appreciated.
I agree pretty much with Alex' s review of Race Driver 2. I went on and on about the visual quality and production values a while back in the
hands-on we did, so you' ll know how highly I regard the game' s visuals.
Back then, only preview code of Rallisport 2 was available and the game had some serious framerate issues, although the weather and lighting effects looked totally awesome. However in the final version of RSC2, the framerate is a flawless 60 which puts it up there with Race Driver 2 in my book.
However in gameplay terms - while I have not spent nearly as much time with RSC2 - I think Race Driver is streets ahead. It feels real and true to life while not massively over the top, it is very challenging, in the league of GT4 Prologue for anyone who' s played that... whereas RSC2 feels like a relatively boring arcade racing experience in my opinion, it would be great for a quick Sega Rally style blast, but as a game structured to be a proper world championship, as all these latest titles are, the gameplay seems way too thin. Then you have to remember also that Race Driver offers a whole range of different kinds of vehicles to master (I haven' t got far enough to get those trucke yet though like Alex claims!)
Gotham 2 is unbeatable for a flashy, big name package of awesome cities and comprehensive vehicle line-up, complimented by very impressive game and challenge design, but it does not pretend to be a proper racing sim like GT4, and that is why it' s such a great game. Race Driver 2, on the other hand, pretty much does pretend to be GT4 albeit less serious without the tuning and stuff, and succeeds as a result.
Forza Mortorsport will supposedly take GT4 head on (complete with tuning aplenty) but from the version playable at E3 it has a long way to go yet to even scratching GT4' s paintwork.
So in the meantime, provided you already have PGR2, then yep, I' d say Race Driver 2 is a goer. It doesn' t feel as exciting as Gotham 2 (if that' s what you' re expecting) but it' s an awesome racing package that any enthusiast will love.
Of course, you could always take a look at GT4 as well, which basically, is the ultimate.